Facebook has announced that starting today one will not need a Facebook account to sign up for the Messenger app. Those interested in joining the Facebook messenger can do so by using their phone number, first name, and last name, which mean that they will now not even require an email id to create an account on its chat app.

The company has rolled out the new log-in feature in the US, Canada, Peru, and Venezuela for now, but we expect the feature to be available in other countries in near future.

"With Messenger, we've been focused on creating the best messaging experience possible by giving people a fun and easy way to connect and express themselves with friends and contacts. If you're in Canada, the United States, Peru or Venezuela, we are starting to roll out a new way for you to sign up for Messenger - without a Facebook account," Facebook has mentioned in its blog post.

With the announcement of this feature, Facebook seems to give an option to those who are not on its Facebook account to still have an account on the company chat app. For those Facebook users who sign up for the Messenger using the "Not On Facebook?" button, syncing of data related to Facebook friends or messages across devices will not happen. They can however upload their phone contacts. The new feature is available for both Facebook Messenger apps on Android and iOS.